Quick Instructions for the Global Chat(tm) Internet chat application

These are instructions for the beta version of  Global Chat(tm) for
Microsoft Windows 3.1 


FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INSTRUCTIONS BE SURE TO READ THE ONLINE HELP
ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB:

	http://www.prospero.com/help/windows/

We update this page regularly to answer the most frequently asked questions
about Global Chat.
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1.Start a Web browser on your system

2.From the browser, visit the page
http://www.prospero.com/globalchat/schedule.html This page contains links
to a number of ongoing chat rooms on the public IRC network on the
Internet.  Pick a topic that sounds interesting and click on the link.

3.The first time you click on a chat link, the browser will prompt you to
"Configure a Viewer" or "Configure a Helper", depending on the browser that
you're using.  Enter the name of the file where you copied the Global
Chat executable. Then hit return or press the ok button.  (You should have
to perform this step only the first time after installing the program).

4.At this point the Global Chat application should start to appear.  It
will prompt you to enter your real name (e.g. John Smith) and a nickname
that you use in the chat.  The nickname is like a "handle" in CB radio and
how other people in the chat will know you.  The nickname must be
alphabetic and up to 9 letters.  There is no way to verify your identity,
and you may either use your real name or a fictitious name, as you wish.
The application will remember your "real name" and nick name for future
use. 

5.At this point the Global Chat application will start to connect to the
chat server.  There may be a delay of up to several seconds while the
application tries to connect.  The public IRC servers are notoriously
overcrowded and therefore slow.  Customers who use Prospero's Global
Stage(tm) chat server will be able to improve performance significantly. 

6.Within seconds you should be connected to the server and joined to
channel that you asked for. 

The Various Parts of the Screen

In the large text window you will see what other people are typing on the
channel. Most messages are preceeded by the nickname of the person who
typed it. (the nickname is surrounded by angle brackets). 

The scrolling list box on the far right gives the nicknames of the people
in the channel.  You will notice that the nick names come and go from the
list as people join and leave the channel. 

You will notice that the graphic banner at the top keeps changing.
Immediately beneath it is an associated  URL.  If you double-click on the
banner, your Web browser will fetch the URL. (This will work only with a
browser that supports external control, such as Netscape Navigator v1.1 or
later.  The browser must be running on your system at the time you click on
the banner). 

The rectangular region at the bottom of the screen (next to the hand that
says "chat here") is for you to type in your contributions to the chat.	 


Performing some common actions

To send a message to everybody in the channel Make sure that "Send Message
To:" is set to Everybody.  Enter your text in the box labelled "Chat Here"
and hit return. 

To send a private message to someone

Make sure that "Send Message To:" is set to One Person. Enter the "nick
name" of the person you want to send to.  Alternately, double-click on
their name from the member-list on the right.  then enter your text in the
"chat here" window. 

To see what other channels are on
Click on the "list channels" button on the left.  You will get a popup with
a list of the channels. (it will usually take several seconds to download
all of this information from the server).  You can then double click on the
name of any of the channels to leave the current channel and join the new
one. 

To join a new channel (if you already know its name and don't need to see
the whole list) Click on the "join channel" button on the left and type in
the name of the channel. 

If somebody sends a URL during the chat and you want to view it in a Web
browser. 
Select the URL using the mouse and click on the Websurf button.  The
browser should then fetch the URL (This will work only with a browser that
supports external control, such as Netscape Navigator v1.1 or later.  The
browser must be running on your system at the time you click on Websurf). 

To see more information about a person.
Select People then About User from the main menu.  Enter the name of the
person you're interested in.  (If a nickname is selected from the
memberlist on the right, that name will be the default).  Hit enter and you
will get a popup with more information about that person, including their
self-reported "real name" and the name of the computer they are logged in
from. 

If somebody is bothering you and you want to stop hearing from them:
Perform the "about user" action as described above.  Then select "ignore
public message" and/or "ignore private messages" on the subsequent popup.


Connecting to a new chat server or changing your "real name" or nick name
The easiest way is to click on the "Sign-In" button.  You can change any of
the information and reconnect to the server. 

Copyright 1995 Prospero Systems Research, Inc.
Global Chat and Global Stage are trademarks of Prospero Systems Research,
Inc.  All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.